Reign of Terror
by MasterGaro
Summary: Bowser has finally defeated Mario. The Mushroom Kingdom is now under a militaristic dictatorship ruled by the evil king. Racism is prevalent in the new state, and the race to which you belong defines your fate. Is there any hope left?
1. Bowser State

Chapter 1: Bowser State

The Mushroom Kingdom was once a place where many species coexisted in harmony. Under the rule of Princess Peach Toadstool, all of its inhabitants enjoyed from equal rights and services: Toads, Goombas, Yoshi, humans, among other species capable of abstract reasoning, introspection and language. Toadsworth once was Peach's steward, living inside the great walls of the Mushroom Castle that erected high in the kingdom's capital of Toad Town. But that wasn't his life anymore.

"I hungry," yelped his three-year-old granddaughter who was sitting on his lap, covered with a thin gray blanket that barely protected her from the cold felt inside the shack.

Toadsworth hurtfully decided to ignore her, as he knew that there was no food left. He merely hugged her tighter in his arms, and peered over the window beside the rugged old chair where he sat.

They were hiding in a small shack in the middle of nowhere, hiding from the menace that ambulated outside the old wooden doors in front of them. The Koopa Troop had taken over the entire kingdom. Now everyone was under the militaristic dictatorship of the evil King Koopa Bowser. It wasn't only them, though. The evil king had expanded his rule over other lands in the vicinity like a plague, and now places such as the Beanbean Kingdom and Sarasaland belonged to the newly formed Bowser State.

The nightmare had begun in the late February of that year, when the evil king finally managed to murder the Mushroom Kingdom's hero Mario Mario. The modest plumber had saved the kingdom from various invasion attempts from Bowser several times, but now that he was gone, there was no one left to protect the land. The fact that Princess Peach was romantically involved with him just made things worse when he died, as she fell in a depressed state and her defense strategies to protect the kingdom from the invasion that followed failed miserably.

On a cloudy day of April, Toadsworth was sitting on his favorite armchair in his room, reading a book to his beautiful granddaughter who was brought by his son and his wife to stay there for the weekend, as they were doing some traveling. Little Toadinette was starting to fall asleep when a tremendous sound of an explosion reached the old Toad's ears. His elderly body shook in surprise and almost dropped his granddaughter, but managed to grasp her firmly. A Toad came bustling into the room, a shocked expression clearly displayed on his face.

"Bowser… we… are getting… attacked!" cried the little mushroom as he gasped for breath.

Without hesitation, Toadsworth mustered some big effort to stand up from the armchair and walked as fast his old legs permitted him towards the bookshelf, which he perfectly knew had a secret passage that led outside the castle. Before entering the passage, he glanced back to invite the Toad to come along, but he saw no one in his room. The sound of approaching fast footsteps startled him, and he immediately closed the passage behind him.

That was the last time he would ever see his comfy spacious room in the castle. He read from a dirty newspaper found on the ground the next day that the Mushroom Castle had been completely destroyed. That was the way he had been catching up with the most recent news happening around the kingdom, every day risking his life to get in the possession of an abandoned newspaper near the village of Petalburg. A mile away from the once peaceful village was the shack in which they were hiding. His dad used to take him there when he was little, when beautiful green fields surrounded the shack. But that was ages ago, and now it was a deserted land. Luckily enough, he had found tons of canned Toad food inside the shack, but now their supplies had come to an end.

Toadsworth had spent his days taking care of his young granddaughter and reading thoroughly the newspapers he found. It seemed that Bowser had managed to transform the Mushroom Kingdom to his own will in such a short period of time. Now the race to which they belonged was a big determinant of their fate. Toads were the ones that were suffering the most. The life of a Toad had two paths only. If fit enough, Toads were sent to work as slaves. If they were very young or too old, Bowser regarded them as useless and they were killed in the instant. Toadsworth knew the destiny that awaited both, his granddaughter and him. And actually he preferred that way, as he rather die before serving the Koopas. But for his little granddaughter it was all so unfair. She was just starting her life, and it was going to be over so soon?

Koopa Troopas were the elite class of the newly formed state. Children, women and the old were allowed to live a life similar to the one they had before. Young adults had the obligation to serve in the Koopa Troop, but either way they were fed and treated right. Goombas, Boos, Bob-ombs, Shy Guys, Bloopers Magikoopas, Lakitus, among other races were recruited to serve the Koopa Troop in some way, with no exceptions. Goombas were Bowser's "sacrifice" lead in case a rebellion popped up against his government. Shy Guys worked mainly in the kitchens, serving food to the rest of the troop and the Toad slaves. Bob-ombs were Bowser's favorite method to destroy houses and buildings, same he used to bring down the Mushroom Castle. Lakitus were Bowser's aerial view, quite useful when persecuting Toads. Bloopers and Piranha Plants had a similar role, but one in the bodies of water and the other in the grasslands. Koopatrols were the evil king's strongest soldiers, and usually enjoyed from better services than those from common Koopa Troopas. Magikoopas were indispensable in Bowser's army. They had the power to brainwash the state's inhabitants, forcing them to remain loyal to Bowser and to spit any type of information that could be used to know the whereabouts of Toads. Sometimes even mind control wasn't necessary, as Boos, Bowser's main spies, exposed traitors who had any type of contact with a Toad, who ended up having a terrible fate.

The only two other species who suffered from a similar genocide to that one of the Toads were the Yoshi and the humans. However, their deaths were not as numerous as the Toads' because they were a minority of the Mushroom Kingdom's inhabitants. Yoshi's Village had now become a home exclusively to Koopa Troopas. However, it seemed that Yoshi still existed in Dinosaur Land, which Bowser hadn't managed to conquer yet.

Bowser's State was divided in eight regions or "Shells", one ruled by the evil king himself, and the other seven by his eldest children. The Shell that covered most of the once-named Mushroom Kingdom belonged to Bowser's fifth child, the spoiled brat Wendy O. Of course, Bowser had more power than any of his children and he regulated the legislation of all eight Shells.

The once-named Koopa Kingdom was now Bowser's Shell. In the heart of the Shell was the capital of the entire Bowser State, Flame City. Only the most influential and powerful Koopas were permitted to live there, aside from the servants that did jobs like cleaning the streets and the sewage. Bowser's Castle was also here, protected by an unimaginable defense system.

There wasn't a single page on the newspaper that didn't contain Bowser propaganda. In every corner here and there were messages that encouraged people to remain loyal to King Bowser and to turn in any Toad, human or Yoshi which they knew were still "free". Toadsworth wondered every day if the Koopa Troop had found his son, Princess Peach or Luigi, the famous hero's brother. He was almost certain that they hadn't found Princess Peach, as it would have already been on all the newspapers of the state.

Toadsworth continued to peer over the window, thinking that the next day he would have to attempt to steal some food for his granddaughter and him. Especially for his granddaughter. He was still submerged deep in his thoughts when he saw some figures moving in their direction not too far away from the shack. Toadsworth heart skipped a beat. It was all over.

"Grandpa, someone coming," said innocent Toadinette, a sudden smile of hope displayed on her small face, "Mum and dad."

Toadsworth couldn't help but let a small tear slide down his cheek as the footsteps coming in their direction were getting louder and louder. Suddenly the door was burst open, and light flooded the little shack. A few figures now stood at the open doors, but Toadsworth couldn't descry them because of the opposing sunlight. The old Toad embraced his granddaughter tighter and closed his eyes as he heard the sound of guns being loaded. Toadinette had started to cry, and Toadsworth caressed her small mushroom head with a shaky hand.

The sound of two gunshots filled the shack.


	2. Serving the Devil

**Hey, there. I wanted to thank you all for giving your opinions and thoughts on my story. I also wanted to thank Future Fantasy Writer and Verran for making me notice my grammar mistakes which otherwise I would have never noticed (I have already corrected those mistakes in chapter one). A few of you might have also noticed that I changed the rating from M to T. I would appreciate if you give your opinion, and say if this should remain T or should I change it back to M. Well, without further ado, here's chapter 2.**

Chapter 2: Serving the Devil

Koopenia was a housewife in her middle twenties living in the village of Petalburg. Not much had changed for her since the evil king rose to power, in fact, things were slightly better for her. Her husband was the chairman and the chief executive of the telecommunications company Koopatel, the biggest and most dominant one in the region which once was the Mushroom Kingdom. She, her husband, and his son had moved from the luxurious city of Poshley Heights to Petalburg about a year ago. Of course, Koopenia had complained exhaustively to his husband, to the point of threatening him with the divorce. But now that she had been living here for a while, she became fond of the small village. She found Petalburg's tranquility very peaceful and pleasing. On top of that, she was easily the richest housewife in the whole village, while at Poshley Heights she usually engaged in fierce competitions with other housewives of who was the richest one. She couldn't help but smirk broadly when she remembered the morning when Toodles was taken out of her house by the Koopa Troop, humiliated in front of all the other housewives, and sent in a smelly train with other Toads to an unknown destiny. Koopenia had always hated her, and there used to be a strong rivalry between both of them. She was more than glad that just when she was visiting her friends in Poshley Heights she had to presence Toodles being humiliated and abashed, taken away from all her pride.

One thing that still disappointed Koopenia was that the troop hadn't found the arrogant and hypocrite Princess Peach. She deserved to be punished for pretending to treat all of the races equally, when she clearly favored the Toads. Koopenia was disgusted of Toads and she was happy that her son wouldn't be having contact with any of them at school. The only Toad that she would be seeing constantly was her servant at home. Todlerina's presence at home caused Koopenia nausea but she knew she was too lazy to clean the house herself. She would rather spend her days at the front yard getting a tan and reading magazines. Of course, that was when Koopedro couldn't come over.

Back at Poshley Heights, there weren't almost any young attractive Koopas, and the few of them were already married and were very respectful to their wives. But here in Petalburg things were a little bit different. Koopedro was a young Koopa in his late teens who lived a few blocks away from Koopenia's house. All morning he had to do his military service at the Hooktail Castle, and in the afternoon he assisted the university. However, by six he was free. Koopenia would take her two-year-old son to the day care by telling him that "Mommy needed some time alone", and pick him up before her husband arrived from work by nine.

But today that wouldn't be the case. Koopedro had told Koopenia that he needed to finish some homework for tomorrow, and that he wouldn't be able to come that day. Koopenia read once more his text message on her mobile with bitterness, and put on her sunglasses as she lied down on her beach chair. Her neighbor, Lilkoopa, a Koopa around her forties, went out her house to take out the trash, and she politely saluted Koopenia with a hand before going back inside. Koopenia didn't even bother to move a muscle in response, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to nap for a while.

Markoop came back from work at evening, as usual. He greeted his wife, Koopenia, with a kiss on the cheek as he met her in the kitchen. Markoop sat at the kitchen table, hungry and eager. Koopenia with clumsy hands served him a bowl full of leaf soup in front of him.

"I made this especially for you, honey," said Koopenia, faking a smile. "I know is your favorite."

Markoop perfectly knew that his wife didn't know how to cook, and that Todlerina prepared dinner everyday, but he merely nodded with a grin and started eating.

"So, how was work today, honey?" asked Koopenia as she sat down at the opposite side of the table with a bowl of soup.

"Not much," said Markoop before eating a spoonful of soup, but then he remembered something important. "We had a visit from our governor."

"That Wendy O. girl?" asked Koopenia, amused. She kind of liked her, as she identified herself very well with her. "What did she want?"

"In short, they want to infiltrate in the company," explained the husband. "Under king Bowser's order, the troop is allowed to register and check phone calls and text messages from anyone they want whenever they want."

"And that wasn't done before?" asked Koopenia surprised.

"Maybe, but not legally," answered Markoop, shaking his head. "We are committed to protect our clients' privacy."

"Or used to," he corrected himself before Koopenia could reply.

"That's awful," said Koopenia, not really meaning it. "But look at the bright side: they will find those traitors who are helping Toads faster!"

"Excuse me, but, I have finished doing the laundry," suddenly said a shy, soft voice coming from the kitchen's entrance. It was Todlerina.

"How dare you interrupt us!" yelled Koopenia indignantly at the young teenage Toad and standing from her seat. "Don't you see that we are talking, you filthy piece of trash!"

"I'm... I'm very sorry, ma'am," apologized Todlerina in a mumble, staring at the floor.

"You should be glad that Markoop and I accepted to take you in this house, or you would be working at a concentration camp, you, ungrateful kid!" yelled Koopenia louder than before and taking a step forward towards her.

"There, there, easy, darling," said Markoop trying to calm down her wife, taking her by the hand and inviting her to seat down again. "You can go to sleep, Todlerina."

"Thank you, Mister Koopchamp," said Todlerina, glancing fearfully at Koopenia before leaving the kitchen.

Todlerina had been living in the Koopchamp's basement since the Koopa Troop captured her in April. The concentration camps were getting too crowded that Bowser had to come up with new ways to enslave the remaining Toads. Now, Koopa families were allowed to have one Toad slave at a certain cost. However, they were not allowed to treat them "right": Toads weren't allowed to own a bed, and they had to sleep in the basement or in a closet (in the case that the family didn't own one) and locked up until the next morning. They had to be doing house chores almost all day, the official schedule being from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M. The Koopa families were allowed to feed them only two times a day. If a Koopa family broke any of these rules, they would be labeled as "traitors" and they would end up having the same fate as the mushroom creatures. Markoop had hidden a small mattress in the basement, and had told Todlerina to use it by night but to hide it early in the morning so that his wife wouldn't notice. He would also go downstairs in the middle of the night while his wife slept and leave some food taken from the fridge in the basement for Todlerina to eat.

Todlerina thought that she was falling in love with Mr. Koopchamp. Or maybe it was because he was the only male she saw in the entire day aside from the lover of Miss Koopchamp? She wanted so bad to tell Mr. Koopchamp about his wife's affair, but Koopenia had threatened her with her life if she dared to say something. If only Mr. Koopchamp knew how bad her wife treated her when he was not home. She would beat her with a bat just for fun. The bruises in her back and arms were proof of it, but Todlerina hid them as she could every time Mr. Koopchamp was around. She knew that he would never believe her, as he seemed to love his wife very much.

Todlerina still thought that her life was relatively good compared to the one of the Toads in the concentration camps. She had the painful bruises and a pale skin due to the lack of sunlight exposure but she was otherwise healthy and well-fed thanks to Mr. Koopchamp. Sometimes he would let the basement door open on purpose, and Todlerina would sneak out of the house to take a night stroll. She wouldn't dare to escape, as she knew that she wouldn't be getting any far. But it was nice to breathe cool fresh air once in a while. She could swear she saw a Toad lurking in the shadows near a trash can the other day, but she hadn't seen them again. They had a senile look, walking slowly with a cane in one hand. She tried to convince herself that it had been her imagination. How could an old Toad still be hiding from the troop? She sometimes wondered how many Toads were still hiding from the Koopa Troop, and how long it would take them to find them.

Koopenia woke up late next morning, as she usually did. She would have stayed longer in bed, but her son's cries coming from the next room didn't let her.

"C'mon, Todlerina, are you really that useless!" complained Koopenia as she pressed a pillow against her ears. "Shut him up!"

"I'm trying!" exclaimed Todlerina.

Koopenia swore loudly but her voice didn't reach Todlerina's ears as the weeping of the tiny Koopa she had in her hands was very noisy. However, she was able to hear clearly when the doorbell rang.

"Great! Now what!" shrieked Koopenia, sitting on the edge of her bed. But then she remembered. Today was the Magikoopas' weekly inspection. "I'll get that."

Once a week, or every Monday to be precise, Magikoopas were sent by the evil king to hypnotize the people living in every house and force them to spit any type of relevant information. Toad servants weren't usually hypnotized, except when they were suspected of having contact with a free Toad. As the inspections were done by midday, people who worked until late also escaped from the hypnosis. Housewives were the ones who were usually inspected. Koopenia hated deeply being hypnotized, but she didn't have any option but to greet the Magikoopas at the door with her well-practiced fake smile and let them in.

"Good morning," said the Magikoopa doing that day's inspection in Petalburg in a professional tone to Koopenia.

"Morning," greeted Koopenia boringly with her trademark smile. "Please, come in."

Koopenia led the Magikoopa to the living room, and invited him to seat on a couch, while she sat on one across him, separated by a small table between them.

"Well, by now you should now the procedure, Miss," said the Magikoopa in the same serious tone.

"Yes," nodded Koopenia with a gulp. She still felt a little nervous during the inspections, even though she had done them several times. The Magikoopas also scared her a little bit, not knowing what was hidden under those mirror-like pair of glasses. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Todlerina was spying the two of them silently from the kitchen, peeping out her head from a wall. The Magikoopa had taken out a yellow wand from his pocket, a red orb glowing at the top of it. He shook it vigorously and then pointed it towards Koopenia. A red glow came out from the orb and reached Koopenia.

"Now, I'm going to ask some questions, Miss, and you're going to answer them with the truth only," instructed the Magikoopa. The hypnotized Koopenia nodded, her eyes still closed.

"Have you seen a Toad in Petalburg or near Petalburg this past week that is not your servant?" asked the Magikoopa.

"No," answered Koopenia.

Todlerina thought that it was pointless to hypnotize Koopenia, as if she ever saw a Toad walking down the streets she would voluntarily tell the troop straight away. She was glad that she wouldn't be getting hypnotized, as she would have to tell the Magikoopa that she might saw a Toad a few nights ago.

"Have you being having contact with a Toad this past week that is not your servant?" asked the Magikoopa.

"No," answered Koopenia once more.

"Have you fed your servant more than you should, or have you been giving her services that she shouldn't have?" interrogated the Koopa wizard.

"Not at all," said Koopenia.

Todlerina knew that she was being completely honest with this one.

"Do you think that your servant might be having contact with a Toad this past week?" asked the Magikoopa. Todlerina felt a chill running down her spine. This question was new.

Koopenia didn't say anything for a moment, like if her small brain was processing this new question carefully. But then she finally responded.

"Yes," she uttered.

Todlerina's eyes were wide open in shock, and attempted to return to the kitchen, but her body didn't respond her.

The Magikoopa waved his wand once more, and Koopenia got out of trance.

"Okay, Miss, we have finished with your inspection," said the Magikoopa as Koopenia shook her head in discomfort. "Now I would like to proceed with your servant."

Todlerina's heart skipped a beat.

**Do not think even for a second that Koopenia or Todlerina is our main character. This chapter is still used to set the background of the story. Thank you for reading!**


	3. In the Sewers

**I'm very very sorry that it took me such a long time to upload a new chapter, but I had been really busy with school and other stuff. Now that I'm officially on holidays, I'll start working on this story again. The good thing is that you don't need to reread the other two chapters, as long as you remember the general idea, as this chapter takes place in a different setting once more. The important thing to mention, however, is that you will meet the protagonists of the story in this chapter. **

Chapter 3: In the Sewers

A young adult Koopa with a band-aid on his nose was walking along the streets of Rogueport at a brisk pace. He looked around with a saddened expression on his face. The port wasn't any more what it used to be before the Evil King rose to power. Of course, Rogueport had the bad reputation of being home to plenty of thieves and other mischievous characters, but at least it was a bustling town with intense activity and movement. Nowadays, the streets were almost empty, with the occasional Koopa promenading around town. Koops glanced at the small park on his left, where kids of all different races used to play happily on the sandbox or the seesaw. Now it was deserted, for the exception of a Koopa taking care of her two little children, who were building sandcastles with plastic buckets. Koops continued walking along Doogans' Street. He heard somewhere that Wendy O. (the governor of their shell) planned to change the street names that weren't related to Koopas. He finally reached the end of the street, facing a small building that had a sign above the door that said "Shelley's" with big red letters. Koops hurried to get inside.

Shelley's was a chain of fast food restaurants spread all around Bowser's State. Since its inauguration in early April, Shelley's popularity steadily grew until becoming the biggest fast food franchise in the whole state. Despite Koops hated everything about the new regime, he had to admit that the food was actually good. He approached the counter at the opposite end of the door, trying to remember everything his friends asked him to order.

"Hello there, Kolorado," greeted a Koopa around his thirties that was behind the counter, "What is it gonna be today?"

Koops still felt uncomfortable when someone called him by his fake name, despite he had been using it for quite a while now.

"I will have… three Koopastas, two Courage Meals, one Healthy Salad, two Koopa Buns, two Koopa Teas and six Fresh Juices," recited Koops with a shaky voice, afraid that he might have missed something or said a wrong quantity.

"Seriously, dude, you really need to ask your friends to come along with you," recommended the Koopa with an eyebrow raised. "You must have a hard time carrying all these meals back home."

"Um… I guess," replied Koops timidly.

"So, that's gonna be…," said the Koopa computing everything on the cash register, "505 Bowser Coins."

If there was something Bowser had been lazy to change, was the currency. The inhabitants were still using the same Mushroom Coins like before, but they were renamed Bowser Coins. Koops gave the employee five silver coins and a red coin, giving him exactly 505 Bowser Coins.

"Here's the bill," said the Koopa handing Koops a small white paper, "Your order number is thirty; it's gonna take around ten minutes. Thank you for choosing Shelley's! We hope to see you again soon!" he said the last few words in a mechanized way.

Koops sat down on the nearest empty table he could find to wait for his order. A few costumers were at the restaurant, eating their food and chatting. Most of them looked like business men on their lunch break. He could also see a young couple eating two tables away from his. He wondered how young male Koopas managed to go out on dates with girls, if they barely had time as they had to assist school and fulfill their military duties. The Koopa girl was eating merrily a Peach Tart, making Koops remember their lost fair-haired friend. They still hadn't heard any news about the princess whereabouts, but he somehow sensed that she was okay.

"Order number thirty!" shouted a high-pitched female voice from the counter, making Koops jump on his seat as he snapped out of his thoughts.

* * *

Carrying around four bags full of meals and beverages wasn't an easy task, especially along the streets of Rogueport that had many forks and inclined narrow paths. After doing this task so many times, Koops had managed to find a safe route free from steep and curvy pathways, even if that meant taking longer to reach his destination. He remembered the time he slipped on a wet slope and sent the food rolling down the street; his hungry friends wouldn't forgive him. After making his way through several streets, Koops turned around a corner and into an alley. He walked towards an old TV cardboard box lying upside down on the ground. He glanced behind him to make sure that no one was around, and he lifted the big cardboard box. A green sewer pipe was hidden under the box, its opening big enough for a person to enter inside it vertically. Koops carefully put the bags he was carrying on the ground, and then he proceeded to put the cardboard box over his head upside down. He picked the bags again from the floor, struggling to balance the box over his head, and he jumped inside the green pipe. Koops and the four bags made it inside the pipe, but the cardboard box got stuck in the pipe's opening, successfully covering it again.

Koops was falling rapidly down the pipe, unable to see anything in the dark surrounding him, and holding the bags with a firm grip. The pipe turned brusquely from a vertical orientation to a horizontal one, but, unlike it would be expected, Koops comfortably changed direction inside the pipe and a second after he came out of it, not at top speeds, but slowly, and landing on his feet gently. Such was the magic of the Mushroom World's pipes.

Despite he had been living in Rogueport's Sewers for a few months now, he still didn't get use to the strong, foul odor that impregnated everything down there. At least now he was able to eat his food without throwing up, and so did his friends. The Rogueport's Sewers weren't common sewers, as it had been a town by its own many years back, before a great cataclysm struck the town and it sank into the depths of the earth. Actually, Rogueport had been built over this ancient town's ruins. Koops was now in a room with gray walls, inferring that they might have been white at some time in the past. Koops and his friends referred to this room jokingly as their "vestibule", as it didn't contain anything at all, and its only purpose was to welcome them to their refuge which they now called home. Koops proceeded to enter through an opening on the wall, where a door once seemed to stand.

"Finally, Koops!" exclaimed a small female pink Goomba with her blond hair tied in a ponytail behind her head standing impatiently in the middle of the room. "We're starving!"

"Hey, easy there, Goombella," said a green male Spike Top with a wrench instead of the usual spike on top of its shell to the Goomba girl. "I'm pretty sure it's not easy to carry all of these around town."

"It was about time for you to arrive, chump," said a deep male voice from an adjacent room. Rawk Hawk, a big, burly eagle-like creature entered the room with an air of superiority.

"At least he's being useful, idiot!" retorted a female Toad wearing glasses and with pink dots on her head who came shortly after Rawk Hawk through the door frame.

"Hey!" exclaimed Rawk Hawk indignantly to Jolene. "I would go out to buy food by myself if those Koopa jerks wouldn't start chasing after me and making me work for that asshole!"

"But I thought you were so tough," said Jolene with a hint of sarcasm. "I thought you were able to take care of them all by yourself."

"There are thousands of those freaks outside!" roared Rawk Hawk. "If those cowards would face me one by one, then…"

"But that won't happen," cut Goombella sharply, already taking her Healthy Salad from one of the plastic bags that Koops had placed on top of the large wooden table they used for eating. "So, if it weren't for Koops, we wouldn't be alive right now".

Koops felt his cheeks blushing when he heard his friend said that. After smiling shyly at her, he sat down on the chair besides her and rummaged inside one of the plastic bags looking for his Koopasta. Rawk Hawk and Jolene quickly joined them.

"I'm going to look for Luigi," advised Torque as he went towards the opening on the wall from where Jolene and Rawk Hawk had came from. This room was more spacious than the other one, and led to three other rooms through doorless openings. It had a big, comfortable-looking sofa, as well as an old shelf with a few books that they had managed to get. Torque crossed the room and went through one of the two openings. This small room had three mattresses on the floor, which belonged to him, Koops and Luigi.

A man was sitting on one of the mattresses, reading a newspaper spread in front of him. Despite he looked young, he had shadows under his eyes and his skin looked really pale. The green-garbed man peered over the newspaper to see his friend Torque, and forced a smile at him.

"Koops is back," informed Torque to Luigi. "Hurry up before your food gets cold!"

And Torque left the room hurriedly, which led Luigi to infer that he was starving madly. Instead of joining his friends, the plumber continued to read the newspaper, looking for any news regarding Princess Peach, Princess Daisy or his brother, Mario. Bowser had said that he had killed Mario in the media, but he didn't say how or where. Luigi still had hope that he was still alive, somewhere.

Luigi still couldn't believe the party with whom he was hiding in the sewers. They were such a random group of people that if someone had told him months ago this would happen, he would have laughed. Four months ago, he was at Podley's Place in Rogueport, having a drink with his friend Torque, which he hadn't seen in such a long time. They embarked together in an adventure in the Waffle Kingdom two years back, and despite Torque didn't like him very much at first, they became really good friends. They were having a good time, telling about each other's lives, with Flavio constantly interrupting their conversation. Flavio was an entrepreneur known to be the second richest man in Rogueport (or used to be). He had many expensive ships in his possession. He was an acquaintance of his brother, and when he overheard that Luigi was Mario's brother, he started bombarding him with questions about his death, which made Luigi felt angry and sad at the same time. Oddly enough, two other acquaintances of his brother were there a few tables away from them. These two, however, Luigi knew them a little bit, and he was well aware that they had been really good friends of his brother. They both greeted Luigi and told him they were sorry for his brother's death. Luigi had been used to those types of comments in the last two months, and it didn't hurt any less every time someone reminded him of his brother's supposed death.

An hour had passed, and Flavio was still annoying them. The Goomba girl was arguing with a tall, yellow creature near the entrance, which Luigi had seen sitting at a table with a Toad a while before. The door of the bar was abruptly opened from the outside, making everyone look scared in its direction. Even the Goomba girl and the yellow eagle had stopped arguing. A terrified Toad entered the bar, and warned them that Bowser's troop was attacking Rogueport. Everyone started panicking, the sound of broken glass and hurried footsteps filling the place. Flavio was shaking uncontrollably and looked as if he was about to faint, but instead he told Luigi he knew a secret place where they would be safe. Luigi and Torque followed him outside the bar, quickly followed by the Goomba girl, her Koopa friend, the beefy eagle, and the Toad. It was hard to keep up with Flavio's pace, who was running as if he were running barefoot on hot lava. He led them through several of Rogueport's streets, and Luigi started wondering if he had forgotten the location. He was pretty sure that Flavio had only invited him and Torque to his secret place, but the other four were still following them from behind. Flavio had led them to an alley where a big cardboard box laid on the floor…

Luigi had been used to live with these six people during these past few months. Goombella was doubtlessly the brain of the group. She had a sassy personality, but Luigi liked her very much and she made good jokes now and then. Koops was pretty cool, too. Despite he was a bit shy, Luigi was getting along with him very well. He was also the only one who could actually walk around the streets of Rogueport uncovered, as he was a Koopa. Rawk Hawk was a complete ass, but he was the muscle of the group, and he helped a lot in moving the furniture around. Jolene, like Goombella, was also very smart, and she engaged in arguments with Rawk Hawk constantly. Before Bowser's takeover, Rawk Hawk had become a very popular wrestler, and he had hired Jolene as his manager. But now that they were out of business, Jolene could now speak rudely at him. Luigi was glad that at least Torque was with him, and he was sure that he would be feeling very different right now if he weren't there. Flavio, on the other hand, had completely lost his mind. He spent most of the day in his room (which he shared with Rawk Hawk), not talking to anyone and contemplating the wall. He wasn't a very strong-minded person, and he had been having a hard time since they started living down in the sewers.

"Luigi, what the hell are you doing?" exclaimed Goombella as she peered over the door frame. "If you don't come soon, Rawk Hawk is going to eat your portion!"

"Okay, I'm coming!" replied Luigi, dismissively putting the newspaper away and standing up from the mattress to follow his friend. Before leaving through the opening, he glanced back at the newspaper and muttered to himself "I'm going to find you, guys."

**I'm leaving on a vacation trip the last days of July, but I plan to upload another chapter before that. I know my choice of characters was a bit random, but I wanted almost unknown characters to have a key role in my story. Except for Goombella, which I know is kind of mainstream, but I like her, so I had to include her ;). And Luigi was a must. I hope you liked this chapter; thanks for reading!**


	4. Departure

**This chapter is going to be a little bit longer than the rest. I want to thank my loyal readers for still caring about this story despite it took me a long time to upload last time. Enjoy :)**

Chapter 4: Departure

"Where the hell is Flavio?" asked a concerned Torque as he took a bite of his Koopa Bun.

"Talking to a wall, probably," said Goombella sadly, sipping some of her Fresh Juice.

"If he's not eating that, I will," stated Rawk Hawk hastily, eying hungrily the Koopasta that was still wrapped around aluminum foil.

"You already get to have two portions, you, pig!" howled Jolene angrily at the big eagle.

"Why does he get two portions in first place?" barked Goombella, suddenly realizing that fact.

"Because I need to keep _these_ in shape," replied Rawk Hawk conceitedly, doing a double bicep pose, making Goombella and Jolene frown heavily at him. "And because I weight five times more than you do!"

Luigi couldn't help but to agree with him in his mind. He did weight a lot more than all of them, and he needed more food than them to survive. Jolene, Gombella and Rawk Hawk were still arguing between them, while Torque was attempting to calm them. Koops was merely looking at them, eating silently his food.

"I'm gonna look for Flavio," Luigi informed, although no one seemed to hear him except for the Koopa Troopa.

The green-garbed plumber stood up from his seat and headed to the adjacent room. He truly despised the fact that the rooms didn't have doors between them, as sounds easily traveled around the place and it was hard to avoid hearing the discussions. There were plenty of them lately. Luigi inferred that it was due to the fact that they saw each other day after day, minute after minute, and they couldn't go to the surface except for a little while at night. Despite the constant uproar among the inhabitants, Luigi was sure that they cared for each other a lot.

Luigi crossed their "living room" and went through the opening that led to Rawk Hawk's and Flavio's room. There was the short entrepreneur, contemplating one of the walls of the room with deep interest, pretty much like Goombella had predicted. Flavio noticed Luigi's presence, and he gave him a childish smile before returning his attention back to the wall.

"Don't you think the sea looks wonderful today?" he said dreamily.

Luigi stared at him with pity in his eyes. Flavio had completely lost his mind. At first he was just imagining things that were not there, but now he was living in his own invented world, claiming that they were in some kind of island, living happily. Flavio was really testing the patience of the group, and Luigi was pretty sure that if he wouldn't have been the one to bring them to this shelter, they would have already got rid of him. It didn't surprise Luigi at all that he was that weak-minded. He was used to a life of luxuries, and most probably he never had to try hard to get what he wanted. His life had been the one that was more abruptly changed, and that must have shocked him a lot.

"Yes, indeed," uttered Luigi faking excitement, pretending to gaze at the supposed sea.

It was best to go along with his hallucinations. Last week, Rawk Hawk got fed up of his babbling, and he started yelling at him, trying to make him return back to his senses. That didn't go well at all, as Flavio shifted his pacific mood to a hysterical one, running around the place like a madman and breaking things. He even punched Jolene in the face, making her cry.

"Would you like me to bring you your Koopasta here?" offered Luigi gently to him.

"Ah! Yes! Flavio is hungry!" exclaimed the entrepreneur heatedly, "Thank you, Mario!"

Luigi cracked a smile at him and left the room. It had been a while since Flavio had started calling him Mario, but he was sure that it wasn't because of his last name, but he actually thought that he was his perished brother. Luigi shook his head in an attempt to make his brother's thoughts vanish as he reentered the dining room.

* * *

Koops was strolling alone around the docks, watching the red sun slowly hide behind the Koopernican Sea. Koops pitied his friends that couldn't go outside freely like he did. He at times wondered if he did the right thing by hiding at Flavio's shelter. He could have easily been living the life of any other Koopa, going to Krepford University (the one nearest to Petalburg), doing military service, sleeping in a comfortable bed by night, eating a wide variety of foods, having a girlfriend…

At this last thought, Koops remembered his ex girlfriend, Koopie Koo. After they had been dating for over a year, Koops discovered that she had an affair with Koopedro, and he broke up with her immediately after that. The first months after their breakup Koops felt depressed and missed her like crazy, but then he decided to move on. He wondered what his father was doing that precise moment back at Petalburg. Koops wanted so bad to go there and tell him that he was okay, or at least send him a letter, but now that the mail was being monitored, he couldn't risk telling him that he was hiding with non-Koopas. Several times he was on the edge of leaving the gang and going back home, but he just couldn't abandon them. They needed him to find food, plus, he would never forgive himself if he left Goombella behind.

Sighing heavily, Koops started walking back to the shelter. Tomorrow was the big day. After two months of heavily planning their escape from Rogueport, they were finally going to do it. From what they knew, Bowser still hadn't conquered Dinosaur Land, or at least not completely, so they were heading there. The plan still had plenty of risky parts, but they were running out of money to buy food, so they had to do it.

* * *

Koops grabbed the doorknob with a shaky hand and turned it. With the other hand he adjusted the fake mustache he was wearing and pushed the door open. Koopai bar was packed with sailors, like Koops had expected. He stepped inside the gloomy place, attempting to look as casual as he could. Luckily, none of the Koopa Troopas inside had noticed him, as they were busy laughing out loud and drinking beer like there was no tomorrow. It was hard to look around in such a dark environment, but it took Koops less than a minute to find the guy he was looking for. Sitting all by himself in a lonely table by a corner of the bar, Koort was drinking silently a Chukola Cola.

Five weeks back, Koops had decided to go to that place to check it out. Koops had told the rest that he was just curious to go there, but what he actually wanted was to drink alcohol as he was feeling very melancholic. He sat at one of the tables and immediately ordered a Koopa Brew. On the table beside his, two Koopa Troopas were talking very quietly and secretly, and the loud music aided them in that task. Koops moved his chair closer to them, pretending that he was just adjusting in his seat. One of the Koopas was telling the other one that he was feeling very depressed because he missed his girlfriend so much. His girlfriend was a Toad, and she had been sent to a concentration camp, destroying him completely. Koops in that moment knew that this guy would be able to help them, as he too seemed to hate this new regime. Koops decided to assist that place regularly to see if he saw him again, but from what he had learned these past weeks is that he only went to that bar on Friday nights, and so did the rest of the sailors. After doing further research, he discovered that this was due to the fact that they disembarked every Friday in the afternoon at Rogueport's docks, transporting cargo from Mushroom City (now named Koopa City) to Rogueport, and then heading back the next morning. They planned to use that small cargo ship to get to Dinosaur Land, with the help of Koort. They didn't know for sure that Koort would agree to help them, but they didn't have any other option.

Luckily for Koops, the friend that used to seat with Koort hadn't appeared during the last two weeks, so he had a better shot at talking to him. He wondered if something bad had happened to him, but he was grateful that it was now easier to approach Koort. Sighing heavily again, Koops walked in his direction with a decisive step.

"Hello, Koort," Koops greeted him politely, sitting at the chair next to him.

"Uh?" mumbled Koort in confusion, staring at Koops with an eyebrow raised. "Who are you?"

"My name is Kolorado," lied Koops, offering him a hand. Koort hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand.

"Can we please go outside?" asked Koops in a serious tone, "There's something important that I need to tell you."

"What?" exclaimed Koort confusedly, frowning at him, "I don't even know you!"

"It's about Toadelle," insisted Koops, lying to him once more.

"Toadelle?" mumbled Koort incredulously, getting closer to Koops. "How do you know about my girlfriend? Have you seen her?"

"Please, let's go outside," urged Koops. "There's something that I want to show you."

Without asking something else, Koort immediately stood up from his seat and headed to the bar's door, glancing back at him. Koops quickly followed him.

"Please tell me, do you know something about my girlfriend?" asked Koort urgently once Koops had closed the door behind him. A soft drizzle was falling outside, and the smell of wet soil reached their nostrils. The crescent moon up in the night sky didn't illuminate very well Rogueport's streets, and the city wasn't known for its abundance of lampposts.

"You'll see," said Koops, failing to hide his nervousness. Luckily, the reigning darkness didn't let Koort see Koops sweaty face.

Koops started walking along the streets of Rogueport, leading Koort to their secret shelter. Koops wondered what would be Koort's reaction when he found out that he didn't really know anything about his girlfriend. Koops didn't even know why he had said that, as that wasn't part of the plan.

"We are almost there?" asked Koort's voice behind Koops.

"Yes," confirmed Koops without glancing back him, hearing their shoes splashing water with each step they took. The drizzle was starting to intensify.

Koops had to take the same route he took every time he came back from Shelley's as the steep pathways were too dangerous to take with the drizzle. After a minute of walking, Koops finally turned around a corner and into the alley, with Koort following closely behind him.

"What the…?" whispered Koort to himself in shock as he saw Luigi, Goombella, Rawk Hawk, Jolene, Torque, and Flavio standing near the green pipe, and a big rectangular shipping container with wheels behind them.

"Hello, there," said Goombella, taking a step forward and smiling politely at Koort.

The sailor opened his mouth but no sound came out of it, still staring at them awestruck. He still couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing that moment. For months, all he saw was people of his own race, and maybe a Toad servant or two, day after day. But that instant he had two humans, a Goomba, a Spike Top, a Toad, and a weird-looking yellow creature in front of him. After recovering from the sudden shock, he carefully approached Jolene.

"You…you… know something about my beloved Toadelle?" asked Koort hopefully to her.

"Toadelle?" asked Jolene with an eyebrow raised, looking at Koops over Koort's shoulder.

"Well, about that…" said Koops staring at the floor, scratching the back of his neck. "You see… we don't really know anything about your girlfriend."

"What?" exclaimed Koort staring at Koops with a trace of anger in his eyes. "But you told me…"

"Yes, I know," uttered Koops guiltily, still not staring at him in the eye. "But you wouldn't have come otherwise."

"So why did you make me come all the way here?" asked Koort angrily, his arms slightly shaking at the sides of his body.

"We need your help," replied Luigi, getting closer to him.

"My help?" barked Koort. "You made me come here by telling me that you knew something about my girlfriend's whereabouts, but it results that you don't know shit and you want me to help you?"

The gang couldn't help but stare at Koops crossly, but the Koopa Troopa already felt guilty enough about the whole situation.

"I'm out of here, you can all go to- "

But Koort didn't finish his sentence, as Rawk Hawk's left fist hit Koort's right cheek mightily when he attempted to leave them. The Koopa Troopa's body was sent backwards due to the impact, and he ended up on the ground, motionless.

"What are you doing, sick bastard!" yelped Jolene, running towards Koort and kneeling beside him.

"This dude wasn't going to help us at all," Rawk Hawk justified himself. "Even worse, he was going to turn us in."

"Yes, Rawk Hawk is right," admitted Goombella in dismay.

"But what are we gonna do now?" asked Torque completely clueless.

"Flavio, come back here!" suddenly Luigi yelled, racing after Flavio who was just disappearing behind the corner.

"But I want to go to the jungle!" complained Flavio like a five year-old kid, staring pleadingly at Luigi, who was dragging him by the shirt back to the alley.

"He's breathing," informed Jolene in relief, her right ear just an inch away from Koort's mouth. "He's just unconscious."

"I have an idea," enlightened Goombella smiling slightly, looking at Koort's attire and then at Koops. "We can still continue with this plan."

* * *

"Keep your hands away from me, you, creep!" shrieked Jolene, slapping the air aimlessly in the darkness.

"Hey, calm down, bitch!" roared Rawk Hawk, moving a few inches away from where he thought Jolene sat. "It was an accident!"

Luigi, Torque, Flavio, Goombella, Jolene and Rawk Hawk were inside the big shipping container, surrounded by absolute darkness. Koops was pushing the container from the outside along a deserted street, wearing Koort's white sailor outfit. Despite the rain helped reduce the friction between the container's wheels and the pavement, they were still making a very slow progress. Koops had to avoid the downhill paths that were too steep, if he didn't want to lose control of the container.

"Koops is moving way too slow," said Rawk Hawk.

"Then go outside and move it yourself," suggested Goombella, getting tired of his complaints.

"You know I would if I could," objected Rawk Hawk.

"We would be moving faster if you weren't so fat," pointed out Jolene sharply.

"FAT?" burst Rawk Hawk in astonishment.

"Shut up, already!" exclaimed Torque, losing all of his patience. "Someone's gonna hear us!"

But that was very unlikely to happen. Rain was pouring heavily over Rogueport, and Koops could hear some lightning too. He finally left Rogueport's central area and reached the docks. Luckily, no one seemed to be there as well. Koops hurried to push the container along the pier, finally reaching the small ship he had been spying for over a month. He pushed the container over an inclined plane that connected the pier with the ship. Because the cargo had been unloaded that afternoon, the deck had plenty of free space.

"You can come out now," said Koops completely out of breath, opening the big metal doors of the container.

"Finally," uttered Rawk Hawk as he hurried to get outside the container.

"Thanks a lot, Koops," Luigi told the Koopa Troopa, patting his shoulder. "You did great."

"Goombella, are you okay?" asked Koops worryingly as he helped his friend came out of the container. The Goomba girl looked very pale.

"I'm fine," she assured him, holding onto a bulkhead of the ship. "I'm just a bit claustrophobic."

"Koops, hurry, give me the keys so that I can get inside the cabin and start this thing!" exclaimed Torque to Koops.

"Uh?" mumbled Koops in confusion, rummaging inside the pockets of his pants.

"Please, don't tell me you lost it!" pleaded Jolene.

"I must have dropped them in the way!" he said with shaky voice, covering his face with a hand.

"Fuck!" cursed Rawk Hawk out loud, punching one of the ship's walls.

"I'm gonna look for them," said Luigi decisively to the gang. "You guys look around the ship to see if there are other keys we can use." The rest nodded heavily. "And Torque, look around and see if you can access the engine room to check that everything's fine."

The gang started walking around the deck in different directions while Luigi went back to the docks. He was searching desperately for the keys on the ground, but the lack of light and the puddles of mud were making it very difficult. It was like finding a needle in a heap of hay. He wondered how much time it would take Koort to wake up from his unconsciousness and advice an authority that they were not dead or enslaved.

* * *

"Hey! This door is open!" cheered Goombella as she opened a door of one of the structures around the deck. It had a long stairway that led to the interior of the ship. She hastened to climb down the stairs. A long narrow hallway met her at the end of the staircase, with plenty of doors at both sides. Goombella started walking along the hallway, looking at the signs that were hung on the doors. They had Koopa names written with a marker.

"These are their dormitories," whispered Goombella to herself, opening one of the last doors of the hallway.

A small, but comfortable-looking room with a bunk bed revealed before Goombella. It also had a wooden nightstand.

"They look nice," said Goombella as she smiled to herself, and closed the door again. Her smile suddenly faded.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked irritably a Koopa Troopa in his pajama pants in the middle of the hallway.

* * *

"I can't believe I found them!" exclaimed an astonished Luigi as he picked up a silver key ring with four keys from the muddy ground. "Now, back to the ship!"

Luckily he wasn't that far away from the ship. He found the keys by the big archway that divided Central Rogueport and the docks. He was now running in the ship's direction, the sea roaring madly behind it.

* * *

"A Goomba disobeying the great Bowser?" uttered the sailor to himself, taking out a sharp knife out of his pajama's pocket. "I don't know where you came from, but this world has no place for traitors."

"P-…please don't hurt me!" yelped Goombella pleadingly, backing away as much as she could, but she quickly met the wall at the end of the hallway.

"Oh, believe me, it won't hurt," assured the sailor, holding the knife with a tight grip and smiling creepily at Goombella. "I'll make it quick."

The Koopa was getting closer and closer to Goombella. The pink Goomba closed her eyes in fear. She suddenly heard a loud thud sound, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Rawk Hawk holding firmly a metal tube in his hand, the sailor Koopa lying at his feet.

"Oh! Rawk Hawk!" exclaimed Goombella joyfully, jumping at him and hugging him tight. "You saved me!"

"Well, that dork was going to kill you," said Rawk Hawk, not hugging her back. "I had to do something."

"Do you think he's dead?" Goombella asked, letting go of the big eagle and staring at the Koopa Troopa on the floor.

"I don't think so," replied Rawk Hawk, eyeing him too.

"What are we gonna do with him?" asked Goombella worryingly.

"Let's throw him to the sea," suggested Rawk Hawk coldly. "Or let's leave him at the pier; someone's going to get him tomorrow."

"Yes, that's a good idea," agreed Goombella as Rawk Hawk lifted the Koopa Troopa above his shoulder.

* * *

"Here are the keys!" yelled Luigi triumphantly to Torque, who was walking around the deck. Once the Spike Top saw his green-garbed friend, he started running in his direction.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Torque, his heart beating very fast. "Now, let's get this thing moving!"

Luigi watched his friend sprint toward the cabin at top speeds, and then he noticed Goombella, Koops and Rawk Hawk running in his direction, an inert body hanging on the eagle's shoulder.

"Who's that?" asked Luigi in horror as he saw that it was a Koopa Troopa.

"That asshole tried to kill me," Goombella explained, catching her breath. "Rawk Hawk saved me just in time."

"I didn't find anything," suddenly said Jolene in disappointment, catching up with them.

"Luigi already found the keys," Koops pointed out.

"Oh, great!" said Jolene, smiling slightly.

"Hang on a second, where is Flavio?" asked Luigi concernedly, looking around the deck. There was no sign of the entrepreneur.

"What?" exclaimed Goombella in disbelief. "I thought he was with you!"

"No!" said Luigi, starting to panic. "I went looking for the keys by myself."

"There are people coming!" yelled Rawk Hawk, looking at the archway a mile away from them.

Despite the pour and the darkness, Luigi saw a lot of moving figures in the distance coming from central Rogueport, heading in their direction.

"What the hell is Torque doing?" asked Rawk Hawk angrily, looking at the cabin.

"Calm down, he already turned on the engine!" said Jolene completely stressed out. "I was able to hear it as I came in this direction."

And Jolene was right, as Luigi felt that the ship was starting to slowly move.

"Wait! We cannot leave without Flavio!" complained Luigi, looking around in every direction with the hope that he might appear out of nowhere, playing with a rock or something. He saw Rawk Hawk throwing the Koopa's body out of the ship. Luigi got closer to the edge of the ship and glanced down to see the motionless body lying on the pier. The stern of the ship was reaching the end of it.

"They will catch us!" panicked Goombella, looking at the big group of people that had reached the docks. Judging the heavy weaponry she was able to recognize, they were Koopa Troop members. She also identified Koort in his underwear among the group, pointing at them with a finger and screaming something that Goombella wasn't quite able to hear.

"Mario!" suddenly someone shouted from the pier. They all started running in the direction of the voice to get a clear view of the pier. To their horror, they saw Flavio sitting calmly on it, caressing what seemed like a wooden barrel and staring at Luigi. "I found this beautiful creature in the jungle! Can we keep it?"

"FLAVIO!" shouted Luigi in desperation, waving his hands like a madman. The Koopa Troop was getting closer. "Get over here, now!"

"He won't make it," sobbed Goombella, shedding some tears and watching the soldiers approaching Flavio.

"Flavio, quick-"

"NOOOO!" shrieked Jolene piercingly as she saw a Koopatrol thrusting his spear inside Flavio's ribs.

Luigi made no sound as he saw Flavio's blood splatter the Koopatrol's armor as he took out the spear of his body, but he felt like he was screaming madly on the inside. The young human still had a wide, kind smile on his face, but there was emptiness in his eyes. The man who had saved them all was dead.

**Damn, I don't know why I had a hard time writing this chapter. I had the idea very clear in my mind, but at the moment of writing it I had trouble describing the events. Anyway, I did the best I could, I hope you liked it. I'm leaving to Puerto Vallarta (a very cool port here in Mexico) next week. And three days after I return home, my school semester begins. So, it's very likely that I'll upload next chapter in about a month. :/ I'll do my best to upload it before, though! Thanks for reviewing btw! They really inspire me to continue this story. **


	5. Deep Down in the Dungeons

**It took me longer than what I expected, but school steals most of my time. Anyway, here it is, finally! I hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 5: Deep Down in the Dungeons

The sound of some really pointy heels echoed from the stone walls of one of the many hallways of Bowser's Castle. Wendy O. Koopa was walking as fast as her short legs permitted her, without losing the grace and the authority expression she had in her face. Since the moment she had become governor of the most important Shell in the whole state, she felt superior to any other being aside from her father. Her siblings had tried to take her down a peg or two, with no success. The light from his father's room came out from the half-open door at the end of the hallway.

"Finally you're here," grunted Ludwig von Koopa crossing his arms as he saw his sister entering Bowser's room through the big pair of doors.

"I do have things to do aside from composing horrible music," said the female Koopaling to the oldest sibling with disgust in her face.

She noticed the big silhouette of her father behind Ludwig, and immediately changed her displeased expression into a big smile, so abruptly that it sent chills down Lemmy Koopa's spine.

"Hello, Daddy!" she childishly greeted her father, walking up close to him and kissing him in the cheek.

"Hello, Wendy," said the Evil King, cracking at smile at her. "You're slightly late."

"I know, Daddy, I'm sorry," said Wendy O. faking a sad face that didn't convince anyone. "I was attending an important meeting."

"Yeah, right, she was probably buying shoes," muttered Ludwig loud enough for Iggy Koopa to hear him, who was beside him trying not to laugh.

"So, what do you wanted to tell us, father?" suddenly asked Roy Koopa, a hint of hurry in his voice.

"What's with you?" inquired Wendy O. with an eyebrow raised. "Why are you in such a rush?"

"I'm- I'm not in a rush!" hurried to say the third oldest brother, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I just had a long day and wanna get back home to get some sleep."

Bowser stared at his son suspiciously. The Koopa King was very good at reading people's eyes and could tell when someone was lying to him, but Bowser could only see his own reflection on Roy's pair of shades he wore most of the time.

"Fine, so I will make it quick," decided the Evil King not fully convinced. "Morton reported me today that Luigi was spotted in Rogueport."

There was a moment of silence in The Evil King's spacious room, the only sound coming from the fountain in the corner of the room which propelled water from a mouth of a statue shaped after the Evil King himself. Iggy Koopa had his mouth half-open, looking stupider than ever. Larry and Lemmy had their eyes wide open. Even Wendy O. looked a bit surprised, though she was trying hard to hide it.

"I can't believe he's still alive!" said Larry Koopa, being the first to recover from the shock, running a hand through his blue hair.

"Did they catch him?" asked Iggy quickly.

"No," grunted Bowser with a grim expression on his face.

"And where's Morton right now?" asked Ludwig, now noticing that his second youngest sibling wasn't there. He felt surprised that he hadn't notice that earlier, as Morton's bigger build and dark skin tone usually highlighted his presence among his brothers and sister.

"He's at Rogueport," explained the father to his children, crossing his arms. "He's investigating what exactly happened."

"I knew that you should have given that portion of the Mushroom Kingdom to me too!" exploded Wendy O. in an unnecessary high, annoying pitch. "I if would have been in charge, I would have caught him!"

"I'm sure you would, Wendy," said Bowser, deciding it was best not to argue with his only daughter. The other Koopalings merely rolled their eyes.

"Anyway, you should stay alert," demanded Bowser, looking particularly at Wendy O. and Lemmy. "Your Shells are right next to Morton's, so ask your troops to guard the borders."

Yes, father!" exclaimed Lemmy obediently with a hand salute. Wendy O. merely nodded.

"He won't be getting any far," assured Bowser, trying to convince himself rather than his children.

"How did he manage to survive, in first place?" asked Larry completely amazed. "I mean, isn't it weird that not a single inhabitant had spotted him earlier?"

"He was with other six people," informed Bowser. "And one of them was a Koopa; maybe he was the one supplying Luigi with food."

"Those filthy traitors!" hissed Wendy O. sharply. "What the hell are those Magikoopas for? Lazy bastards, they can't even do their job right!"

"And to which race belonged the other five?" asked Ludwig, ignoring his sister's complaining.

"Morton didn't give details about the rest," stated Bowser, pacing around the red carpet with his hands behind his back. "But they managed to kill one of them, though."

"For real?" inquired Lemmy absolutely intrigued about this new piece of information. "Were they able to identify them?"

"Flavio Pierpont," recited Bowser, not looking at any of them but at the red carpet down at his feet. "That's the name Morton told me."

"Who on earth is this guy?" asked Iggy Koopa confusedly.

"He was a rich entrepreneur of Rogueport," uttered Bowser, still not making eye contact with his children.

"What connection could this guy possible have with Luigi?" wondered Larry, scratching his head.

Before anyone could make a guess, Roy cleared his throat to draw everyone's attention.

"This is really interesting and all," commented Roy to his father. "But I really need to get some sleep."

"Fine, leave," said Bowser curtly, narrowing his eyes.

"But I will advice my troops to watch out for Luigi," added Roy when he had a hand in the doorknob, feeling a little guilty for leaving his father so abruptly. "We'll find him, Dad; don't worry."

"I should probably go too…" began saying Larry Koopa apologetically a few seconds after Roy had closed the door behind him.

"Everyone, get the hell out here!" roared Bowser, getting really upset and stamping the red carpet with his right foot.

All of the Koopalings knew that when his father wasn't in a good mood, it was best to leave him alone. Even Wendy O. didn't argue, and hastily followed his brothers outside Bowser's room silently.

"Ungrateful children!" hissed Bowser angrily after Wendy O. had closed the door behind her. "Now they don't have time to listen to his damn father for a few minutes!"

In an attempt to release his anger, he grabbed a Boo figurine made of crystal that was in his desk and smashed it on the floor, breaking it into tiny pieces that scattered all around the stone floor and the carpet.

"I need to relieve this stress," groaned Bowser to himself, pacing around his room.

He stopped to watch the dancing flames in his fireplace and slowly smirked.

"And I know exactly how."

* * *

"He just broke another figurine," informed Iggy Koopa shaking his head as he walked with the rest of his siblings along a castle's hallway. "I hope it wasn't the Shy Guy I gave him for his birthday."

Larry was about to reply when he suddenly stumbled across Roy, who was coming from a staircase beside them.

"Roy?" said Lemmy confusedly. "I thought you had left already!"

"What were you doing in the dungeons?" inquired Wendy O., staring at him suspiciously.

"I- umm… nothing," mumbled Roy hesitatingly, "I just got lost."

"I get lost all the time too!" exclaimed Larry in comprehension. "The castle is so freaking big!"

Iggy and Lemmy nodded at his brother comment, but Wendy O. knew that her brother wasn't being completely honest.

* * *

"Hello, my princess," greeted Bowser after he entered a dim room, lit only by torches hung on the stone walls. At the end of the room was a cell, enclosed by vertical iron bars and a metallic door. Bowser closed the door behind him and walked closer to the cell. When he was close enough, he was able to see the face of Princess Peach enlightened by the torches nearest to the cell. She didn't look like a princess at that moment, though. Her face was covered in dirt, and her blond hair was greasy and untidy. Her pink dress was torn in some areas, and she wasn't wearing any footwear.

"I have been feeling very stressed lately," whispered Bowser, approaching a silver key to the cell's door. Peach immediately backed away to the wall at the opposite side.

"But you can give me hand, right, princess?" asked Bowser maliciously, opening the metallic door. "Don't worry; we are going to have a very good time."

Peach gulped as her whole body was trembling in fear.

**I apologize for ending the chapter in such a pervert way, but I always thought of Bowser that way. I mean, he didn't kidnap Princess Peach just to have tea with her, right? ;)**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to point out grammar mistakes, or just write your thoughts about my story. I hope to upload before December. Thanks for reading!**


	6. In a Sea of Nightmares

**I'm officially the worst fanfic writer ever. I apologize for taking so long to update, but I have been quite busy. I promised myself that I would finish this story no matter what, and I will. Thank you very much for those still reading this!**

Chapter 6: In a Sea of Nightmares

"Luigi, lunch is ready," said Goombella quietly as she approached the tall plumber who was standing at the very end of the deck, staring at the sea several feet below him.

"I'm not hungry," mumbled Luigi without looking at her as she reached him.

"Luigi, listen," she said, taking a deep breath. "I'm very sad about what happened to Flavio too."

Luigi nodded but didn't say anything. He gave the Goomba a quick glance before returning his attention back to the liquid mass stretching before him.

"But we need to move on," continued Goombella, shaking his arm a little bit. "Flavio would have wanted that too."

"I suppose," said Luigi weakly after a short pause.

He didn't know why he felt so affected by Flavio's dead when he had only known him for four months. He thought it had something to do with his brother's death, and how easy it was to take someone's life in a second. Did killers have a heart at all? Did they know that these people had families and friends?

"C'mon, Luigi," insisted Goombella as she tried to take him away from the deck. "This sailors' seafood is actually pretty good and it's a nice change from the processed crap we were eating."

Luigi finally agreed to follow her downstairs to what seemed to be a cafeteria where the sailors used to eat. There were a few rows of large tables on the spacious room. The rest of the group was crowded around one of the tables. Luigi could see some fumes coming from whatever was in the middle of the table.

"I'm glad you decided to come, Luigi," said Torque with a smile.

Luigi returned the smile weakly, but didn't say anything in response as he sat down beside him. Despite his current sad mood, he felt a soothing sensation as he smell the food he had in front of him. The plate in the middle of the table had what seemed to be grilled Blooper along with a variety of vegetables and some croutons.

"I'm quite surprised Jolene," said Rawk Hawk after gulping down some Blooper. "This tastes incredibly awesome!"

Rawk Hawk giving compliments to Jolene was something that they didn't hear a lot, leaving everyone surprised. The pink Toad stared at him confusedly, as if she hadn't heard well what he just said.

"I'm being honest," uttered Rawk Hawk truthfully.

Jolene smiled at him, but she was still so surprised that she couldn't formulate any words.

After several minutes of silence, for the exception of munching and gulping, Luigi noticed that he felt way better. The delicious food seemed to have lifted everyone's spirits. Rawk Hawk even volunteered to wash the dishes once everyone had finished. Torque returned to the cabin to steer the ship, and Jolene went to her room to take a nap after spending hours in the galley.

"If my calculations are correct," said Goombella analyzing the map she had found in the cabin the night before. "We should be reaching Dinosaur Land or, more specifically, Yoshi's Island in two days."

The Goomba, Luigi and Koops were sitting in one of the tables of the cafeteria planning their future plans.

"That's not much," muttered Koops quite relieved.

"Two days is plenty of time," Luigi pointed out, worried. "It's enough time for Bowser to take action."

"Mmm… but do you think they can find us?" asked Koops to the plumber.

"My guess is that this ship might have some tracking device somewhere," answered Goombella before Luigi could open his mouth to respond. "Bowser is monitoring practically everything."

"Then we should be looking for this device right now!" urged Koops standing from his seat.

"I already looked in the cabin," stated Goombella. "If Bowser wanted to monitor this ship I'm sure he was clever enough to put the tracking device somewhere no one could find it."

"But… but we should at least try!" exclaimed Koops looking at her in disbelief.

"It's pointless, Koops," uttered Goombella shaking her head as she stood up too. "It could be the size of a tooth; we're never going to find it if there's one."

"Goombella is right, Koops," said Luigi, finally defeated. "I'm going to get some sleep."

* * *

Luigi was chasing after Daisy around the tennis court in the Mushroom Castle's gardens. She had snatched his green cap after she and Peach had lost to the Mario brothers in a tennis match.

"What's wrong, plumber, can't you catch me?" said Daisy mockingly waving the cap in front of him as Luigi struggled to free his tangled foot from the net.

Peach and Mario were merely laughing at the pair while they sat on the court's bench. After Luigi had escaped from the net, he easily reached the Sarasaland princess and hugged her tightly as she refused to give him his cap.

"Stop it, Luigi, you're hurting me!" she said playfully as she couldn't stop laughing.

Luigi was laughing as well, not even bothering to get back his cap anymore, but merely holding the girl he liked so much in his arms.

He felt like he couldn't be any happier than this. He truly felt like he was the happiest man on the planet. He had amazing friends, an amazing girlfriend who came to visit him regularly, and an amazing brother with whom he had a very close bond that many would die for. He felt that his life was complete and that there were no missing gaps to fill in.

But then the sky started to turn dark. The once clear sky was rapidly being covered by menacing gray clouds. Lightning started to madly appear in the skies, and the thunders hit Luigi's ears like sharp knifes. The earth began shaking uncontrollably; the trees around them were falling down to the ground.

"Luigi!" cried Daisy as her whole body was being pull upward by an invisible force. She was rapidly leaving the ground as fast as a skyrocket. She was soon lost among the gray clouds above them.

"Nooo!" shouted Luigi at the top of his lungs. He stared at the sky, hoping that somehow Daisy would come back.

"Luigi!" exclaimed Mario this time.

Luigi turned his head just to see his beloved brother and princess Peach being swallowed into the sky as well.

"Nooo!" wailed Luigi, starting to shed some tears from his forcedly closed eyes. He dropped on his knees, holding the back of his head with his shaking hands.

"Luigi!"

"Luigi!" he heard once more. But this voice sounded very different, like if it were coming from the skies above.

"Luigi, damn it, wake up!" exclaimed Goombella slapping him in the face.

Luigi woke up from his nightmare, his face covered in sweat. He felt that the floor was shaking again, but this was real life…

"What the hell is happening?!" exclaimed Luigi in horror.

"We're being attacked by a Big Blooper!" cried Goombella with shaky voice. "We need to get out of here now!"

Luigi quickly followed Goombella out of his room. It was very difficult to run down the narrow hallway with all the shaking going on, and Luigi kept hitting his arms and ribs with the wall. When they finally reached the stairs, they found an inert body lying on the floor.

"Jolene!" wailed Goombella in horror as she knelt beside her friend. "It seems that she broke her leg!"

"She must have fell off the stairs," hypothesized Luigi worried as he lifted Jolene's unconscious body from the floor.

Once they reached the end of the staircase, Luigi was able to clearly see the scene developing in front of his eyes. The biggest Blooper he had seen in his life was madly attacking the ship, using its tentacles like powerful whips. He saw that the whole cabin had been torn off the ship, and it was now slowly sinking into the water with broken pieces of metal floating around it.

"We need to jump, Luigi!" urged Goombella running to the edge of the ship.

"Wait!" exclaimed Luigi with shaky voice. He had to go back. He just had to.

"Take Jolene with you!" said Luigi to Goombella's shocked face, putting Jolene's body gently on the floor. "I'll be right back!"

"Luigi, what the hell are you doing?!" cried Goombella as Luigi started climbing down the stairs once more.

Goombella shouted something else, but Luigi couldn't quite hear it with all the noise around him. He ran through the corridor as fast he could, and he kicked the door of his room open. There it was, resting on his night table beside the lamp: the golden coin Mario gave him for his tenth birthday. It wasn't an ordinary coin, as it had Mario's face engraved on one side of the coin and his face in the other. Luigi considered it as his biggest treasure and he was not going to leave it behind.

He swiftly took the golden coin and put it in his pocket. He returned back to the corridor and began racing toward the staircase. However, the corridor suddenly started turning upside down, causing Luigi to lose balance and hit his head with the ceiling that was now the floor. Everything went black and Luigi was able to hear the sound of water rushing down the corridor before his hearing sense faded as well…

**Thanks for reading! Feel free to point out grammar/orthography mistakes or just comment on your thoughts about the chapter; they are appreciated! I hope to upload next chapter soon.**


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